PWS Outdoor Leadership.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

FOR THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY (USNA)

CENTER FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (ELD)

1.0 Background

Summer outdoor leadership education and training provides experiential educational opportunities for midshipmen that complements classroom curricula studied through the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Division at USNA. The synergy created via traditional classroom study and outdoor experiential leadership expeditions augments the moral, mental, and physical development of midshipmen in a holistic way, combining both academic theory and practical application in challenging, austere wilderness environments. Leadership development training will consist of month-long leadership practical expeditions in these austere environments and will include such things as backpacking, glacier mountaineering, whitewater canoeing, and sea kayaking in locations such as (but not limited to) Alaska, Wyoming, and Canada.

Lessons learned on wilderness expeditions shall be immediate, lasting, and relevant to real-world military leadership. A successful expedition will reinforce and demonstrate practical application of the same skills that are taught and used at USNA and later on in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps: among them are goal setting, decision-making, leadership, and teamwork.

2.0 Objective

The objective of this contract is to obtain contractor support to provide USNA midshipmen with experiential leadership training in austere wilderness environments. Because of the length of each block of training, larger wilderness training areas (i.e., WY, AK, Canadian Yukon, etc.) are required.

3.0 Scope of Work

Contractor support is required to provide custom training to USNA midshipmen. The minimum period of performance is May 27, 2025 through August 12, 2025 with custom training courses provided by the contractor during USNA training blocks 1-3, which occur between 27 May – 20 June 2025; 23 June – 18 July 2025; and 21 July – 12 August 2025. Base award shall begin on 27 May 2025 and end on 26 May 2026. The contractor shall provide a team of instructors who are certified wilderness experts. Minimum requirements include certification as Wilderness First Responders (or equivalent) and bi-yearly CPR certification. At least one-half of all instructors must be certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).

Large outdoor wilderness areas are required, such as Alaska, Wyoming, and Canada, in order to accommodate the mileage, terrain, obstacle, and altitude demands of a longer month-long expedition. The contractor must provide custom training courses to a minimum of 60 midshipmen. The training shall be provided during USNA’s training blocks as defined in this section with options for an additional 120 students to attend any course each year during any training block as determined by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

Contractor must be able to integrate classroom and outdoor training with leadership tenets taught at the U.S. Naval Academy. Contractor must remain flexible to adjust leadership topics as required by the curriculum.

Summer training for midshipmen is broken into four blocks:

· Block 0: 12-23 May, 2025

· Block 1: 27 May – 20 June, 2025

· Block 2: 23 June – 18 July, 2025

· Block 3: 21 July – 13 August, 2025

· Reformation of the Brigade: 14 August, 2025

4.0 Requirements

Each expedition shall last from 24 to 30 days. The contractor shall provide backpacking, mountaineering and sea kayaking expeditions to a minimum of 60 students, with options to train up to 120 additional students, as determined by the COR, for a maximum total of 180 students.

The contractor shall provide opportunities for midshipmen to enhance their leadership and teamwork skills through theoretical component and actual small-unit leadership experiences. The contractor shall guide the midshipmen in developing the skills necessary to lead in austere wilderness environments, including managing risk, making difficult decisions, facilitating group decisions, reflecting on leadership mistakes and experimenting with new styles, giving and receiving feedback, and developing a strong and positive team culture.

Throughout the expedition, midshipmen shall lead and actively follow their peers. In addition, instructors will emphasize advanced instructional skills focused on experiential learning and coaching.

5.0 Specific Tasks

Each expedition shall split up into hiking groups consisting of one instructor and five students, reconvening as a large group each evening. Each day will include a debriefing to facilitate transference of lessons learned in the wilderness to the employment context in which midshipmen will lead in the future. Instructors will play evolving roles as students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities increase during each self-contained expedition.

Midshipmen shall be placed in leadership roles with ever-increasing levels of responsibility, developing competencies in the following areas:

• Effective action in four leadership roles (designated leadership, self-leadership, active followership, and peer leadership) through progressive assumption of positions over the period of the course.

• Risk management skills including first aid and survival training, contingency planning, and decision-making.

• Technical skills relevant to the environment, such as mountaineering and glacier travel skills, rope and ice ax handling, river crossing, and bear country camping requirements.

• Leave No Trace minimum impact travel techniques.

A daily debriefing will occur in order to examine how the theories and skills of leadership are applied in the process of leading the team.

Faculty shall begin the course by developing and reviewing appropriate wilderness and fieldcraft skills (e.g., cooking, selecting campsites, setting up tents, etc.). Midshipmen will spend one day role modeling how to lead a hiking group. Students will rotate designated leadership roles within the group. These designated leaders are responsible for key tasks such as planning the day’s anticipated route, communicating with their peers, using the instructors as subject matter experts, and considering how the day’s goals and activities serve the larger goals of the expedition. Faculty will play evolving roles as students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities increase during each self-contained expedition.

Each course shall vary according to the dynamic environmental challenges presented by the weather and route conditions. A general required schedule with likely outcome objectives and curriculum for a 24-day course with 10-12 students is listed below:

Faculty shall ensure midshipmen practice the following seven leadership skills :

· Continually increase technical competence in all skill areas.

· Display strong expedition behavior by working effectively as a member of a team and serving group goals with a positive attitude.

· Maintain flexibility, commitment, and positive attitude in the face of adversity and uncertainty.

· Accurately identify personal strengths and areas for growth.

· Work to understand the leader’s vision and develop an individual vision as a leader; follow through with appropriate action to help the group achieve its potential.

· Demonstrate sound personal judgment and facilitate or participate in effective team decision-making.

· Effectively communicate and problem solve on interpersonal and group levels.

Other skills that shall be covered include expedition behavior (teamwork), competence, self-awareness, tolerance for adversity and uncertainty (resilience), communication, vision and action, and judgment and decision-making.

Curriculum modules shall include at a minimum the following:

· Positive learning environment and group formation.

· The four leadership roles and seven leadership skills.

· Proper expedition behavior.

· Leadership teams and designated leader preparation.

· Effective debriefing.

· Feedback.

· Communication (interpersonal gap, empathic communication, etc.).

· Decision-making models.

· Developing judgment.

· Diagnosing group challenges (Waterline Model).

· Tolerance for adversity and uncertainty.

Instructors shall ensure that each midshipman is capable of the following:

· Recognize and consistently perform appropriate techniques to reduce or avoid hazards in a remote environment, (e.g., rockfall, weather, river crossings, etc.).

· Practice effective peer decision-making to mitigate hazards.

· Display sound judgment and an awareness of team and self-limits.

· Live comfortably in a remote environment; learn to camp, cook, and dress for a variety of conditions

· Travel competently in terrain using navigation skills, hazard evaluation, route-finding techniques, and river-crossing techniques.